Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Kirsi Nadzeika Charged with Assault and Battery on Child

A 43-year-old Mashpee woman accused of seriously assaulting her 4-week-old baby boy — including flailing him around the room while holding onto his leg — was arraigned in Falmouth District Court yesterday.

Kirsi Nadzeika of 11 Periwinkle Lane was charged with domestic assault and battery, two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a child with injury, after police found her assaulting and attempting to smother her son, Nathan Nadzeika.

Legal history

Kirsi Nadzeika has a record of convictions and 10 aliases, court documents state.

She was held on $100,000 cash bail at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility.

The child was "significantly injured," the court documents state, and Nadzeika has a "prior record of violence."

According to court documents, Nadzeika was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine at the time of the alleged assault.

A spokesman from the Mashpee Fire Department said the baby was taken to Falmouth Hospital, but his condition was not known. A spokeswoman from Cape Cod Healthcare said the child was taken to another facility, but that could not be confirmed last night.

According to Police Chief Rodney Collins, officers were called to a domestic disturbance involving a child at Nadzeika's home at 12:59 a.m. yesterday. When they arrived, officers Ollie Naas and Ralph Mahoney heard screaming and entered the house.

In the kitchen, they found Leslie Brown, later identified as Nadzeika's boyfriend, on the kitchen floor trying to restrain a partially nude Nadzeika, who was holding the baby boy, Collins said. Furniture was overturned, and the floor was littered with household items.

The officers told Brown to step away from her, which he did, Collins said. They saw that the baby was bleeding from the mouth and had multiple injuries to his body. The officers told Nadzeika to move away from the baby, but she refused, according to the police, and tried to smother him.

The officers struggled with Nadzeika, Collins said. She squeezed the baby's right leg and stood up, flailing the baby's body around with "great force." Mahoney pried the baby free and Naas stopped him from hitting the ground.

Nadzeika continued to resist arrest, Collins said. She yelled Latin and religious phrases and told Mahoney he was "the devil."

Nadzeika had allegedly consumed wine and cocaine, according to court documents. Collins said that he could not immediately comment on how that was determined but said that she was obviously "high."

"Obviously it was an intense situation," Collins said. "The officers showed tremendous restraint and did a commendable job in an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Nadzeika has a record of convictions and 10 aliases, court documents state. She also has a history of not showing up for court appearances.

She was held on $100,000 cash bail at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility. She is scheduled for a Nov. 10 pretrial conference.